Sheriff's demands create real risks for Broward

In his relentless pursuit for more and more money, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel has lost sight of his customers and risks splintering the face of law enforcement in our community.

Shortly after taking office 10 months ago, the county's top cop asked the Broward County Commission for a 14 percent budget increase — or another $93.7 million for his $667 million budget. After receiving a still-generous 4.5 percent increase, he started looking elsewhere for more money, focused on awarding bigger staff pay raises, pensions and perks.

In September, to save $1 million, the sheriff said he was going to cut the sole ambulance serving the east end of Alligator Alley, an area that's seen some horrific crashes. Amid blowback from residents and county leaders, he found the money in a delayed informational technology project, but says, "it's a one-year decision. It's only funded for this year."

This month, to save about $2.8 million, the sheriff closed satellite jail booking stations in Davie and Hollywood. Now, officers from Weston to Miramar to Sunrise to Hollywood have to drive suspects to the Main Jail in downtown Fort Lauderdale, cutting into the time they can patrol their own cities.

Throughout his short tenure, Israel has sought to raise the price of law enforcement protection — as much as 22 percent — for some of the 14 cities that contract with BSO for services.

Recently, the sheriff squeezed Southwest Ranches so hard that city officials ran to the state for help. They got it, in the form of a precedent-setting ruling by the Florida Attorney General's office.

The ruling says cities may now contract with neighboring cities for police services, which means the sheriff is no longer the only alternative to a city forming its own police force. As a result, Southwest Ranches is negotiating with neighboring Davie for police protection.

Israel told the editorial board this week that the troubled negotiations with Southwest Ranches wasn't really about the city's contract, it was about sending a message: Time has run out for cities that are not paying their fair share for service.

Earlier this year, the sheriff said he made the unprecedented move of calling in a county auditor, who found some cities are underpaying for BSO services, including Cooper City, West Park and Parkland.

Some cities — including Lauderdale Lakes, a poor city — have overpaid. Given his dogged pursuit for equity, Israel should refund the full $1.4 million overpayment made by Lauderdale Lakes.

While the sheriff is right to address the discrepancies, he reaches too far in demanding double-digit rate hikes in a single year, given our slow economic recovery.

Besides, we asked, what happened to the county commission's suggestion that he not award the full 7-percent pay raise this year? Couldn't he cinch his budget belt a little?

Israel said the commission "does not tell me what to do with the money, they give me a pot and let me decide." He said he would "break the morale and spirit" of employees if he didn't award both a 5 percent cost-of-living raise and a 2 percent merit raise. He says his general counsel advises he can't forego awarding the raises unless the county is facing a financial emergency.

Perhaps.

But in his dogged campaign to fund bigger pay raises, pensions and perks, the sheriff is leaving a trail of animosity and soured relationships among Broward cities that are trying to avoid tax increases.

There's talk that other cities might also leave the department's protective umbrella, creating a domino effect that balkanizes county law enforcement services and undermines the investment taxpayers have made in the sheriff's department.

Besides, wasn't consolidation supposed to save taxpayers money?

Southwest Ranches Town Attorney Keith Poliakoff says the attorney general's ruling, which arose from the standoff with the sheriff, "is a major deal."